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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: February 16, 2010 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. ~ <br />SUBJECT: Resolution Acknowledging February 23, 2010 as Spay Neuter Day USA in <br />Orange County <br />DEPARTMENT: Animal Services <br />PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No <br />ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Spay Neuter Day Resolution Bob Marotto, Director, Animal Services <br />968-2287 <br />Jean Austen, JD, Chair, Animal Services <br />Advisory Board, 563-3291 <br />PURPOSE: To approve a resolution officially declaring February 23, 2010, as "Spay Neuter Day <br />USA" in Orange County. <br />BACKGROUND: Animal Services staff and the Animal Services Advisory Board (ASAB) recommend <br />that the (BOCC) adopt a resolution designating February 23, 2010 "Spay Neuter Day" in Orange <br />County. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has nationally designated the last <br />Tuesday of each February as "Spay Day USA". <br />Spay Day USA was originally created in 1995 by the Doris Day Animal League (DDAL). In 2006, <br />HSUS assumed responsibility for Spay Day USA when DDAL combined operations with HSUS. <br />Since its inception participants have spayed or neutered more than one million animals, preventing <br />millions of potential births. As a result, millions of taxpayer dollars have been saved that may have <br />otherwise been used to provide animal control, care and sheltering for the offspring of these animals. <br />In Orange County, pet overpopulation is a priority issue. At its January 28, 2010 work session, the <br />BOCC received and discussed Managing Pet Overpopulation: AStrategic Plan for Orange <br />County, North Carolina. Working closely together, Animal Services staff and the Animal Services <br />Advisory Board (ASAB) prepared this five-year strategic plan on the basis of best practices in the <br />field of animal welfare and public policy. Fundamental to this plan is targeting spay and neuter in the <br />County to decrease the rate of reproduction of dogs and cats and thereby contain the number of <br />animals that must be sheltered and the costs of caring for those animals. <br />Since the creation of the County's Community Spay/Neuter fund, Animal Services staff has worked <br />with the ASAB to begin to establish a proactive and cost-effective spay and neuter program. <br />Significant developments in this area in calendar year 2009 included: <br />